Chialing River

Jialing River
The Jialing Basin
Chinese
Literal meaning	Excellent Mound River
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jīalíng Jiāng Wade–Giles Chia-ling Chiang

Former names
The Jialing in Hechuan, Chongqing
Ba River
Chinese
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bashǔi Wade–Giles Pa Shui
Lang River
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Làngshǔi Wade–Giles Lang Shui
Yu River
Chinese
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yúshǔi Wade–Giles Yu Shui
Little River
Chinese
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiǎohé Wade–Giles Hsiao He

The Jialing River, formerly known by numerous other names, is a major tributary of the Yangtze River in the Sichuan Basin. It is named after the Jialing Valley in Feng County, Shaanxi through which it flows.

The Jialing River's most notable characteristic was formerly its pellucid green waters. It is also notable for its sinuous course in its lower reaches. From Zhangwang Miao (Temple of Zhangfei) in Guangyuan to Longdongtuo in Hechuan, the distance as the crow flies is only slightly more than 200 kilometres (120 mi). However the river itself travels over 600 kilometres (370 mi). The most tortuous part of its course is between Nanchong and Wusheng.

The name Jialing did not come into general use until the Tang Dynasty. Before that, it was generally known as the Ba, although it also appears as the Lang and Yu as well. In the 19th century, it was known by the Sichuanese as the Small or Little River, by comparison with the Jinsha and Yangtze.

The source of the Jialing, in name, is in the Jialin, which means " the tomb of Jia（嘉陵）" in Chinese. Jia （赵代王嘉） was the last king of State Zhao （赵国）, who was kidnapped to State Qin (now called Tianshui, Gansu Province，甘肃省天水市) after Qin defeated Zhao . The river briefly flows through Gansu before reentering Shaanxi and then crossing south into Sichuan.

The longest stem of the Jialing River, however, can be traced to a source in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan and the entire river is 1,345 kilometres (836 mi) long. This source is located at the head of the Baozuo River, considered a tributary of the Bailong River, itself the primary tributary and main stem of the Jialing River system. The branches named Jialing and Bailong meet in Guangyuan in Sichuan and continue as the Jialing to the Yangtze. The river reaches the floor of the Sichuan Basin at Langzhong and continues in a sinuous route into Chongqing and its junction with the Yangtze River.